The invention relates to improvements in bucket elevator conveyor systems used for the general transport of loose materials in such a way that the carrying buckets operate with minimum spillage and without damage to the product or the apparatus itself.
Bucket elevator conveyor systems to which the invention relates are of a type in which buckets are rotatably supported between two parallel, spaced apart endless chains that carry the buckets along a defined path including the negotiation of corners. The buckets are arranged in spaced apart relationship but with overlapping edges so that at a filling station, the product to be conveyed can be discharged into the buckets with a minimum of spillage. The buckets are arranged so that they are tipped at a discharge station to empty their contents. Bucket elevator conveyor systems are known and available in various configurations including straight horizontal, “C”-shaped, as well as “Z”-shaped. The particular configuration depends upon the specific needs of the user.
Bucket elevator conveyors of this type are used for handling a wide range of products, especially those that are required to be handled gently during production and/or packaging to avoid damage to the product. Such products include a variety of products in the industrial, candy, agricultural industry, such as seeds, as well as a variety of products in the food industry.
Known bucket elevator conveyors in most instances operate reliably and efficiently. However, the buckets in known systems are typically filled as the buckets pass along a path at the top of the supporting structure, and they discharge the product as the buckets rotate around the sprockets driving the chains carrying the buckets. With known systems, if it is desired to discharge product at a point intermediate of the drive or take up sprockets, mechanisms are provided to tip the buckets as they pass along a horizontal path between the sprockets. With known systems, however, discharge must occur while the buckets are upright and traveling along the top path of the elevator-conveyor structure. Therefore, if intermediate discharge is desired, sloped chutes must be built into the inside of the conveyor structure and the product directed so as to avoid the return path of the buckets. This typically requires that the conveyor supporting framework being deeper to accommodate the additional structure for the chutes.
In addition, the buckets in elevator conveyors of this type typically have front and rear edges that overlap so that spillage of the product is minimized at the filling station. When these buckets are tipped to discharge the product, or when they are elevated and must change from a horizontal path to a vertical path, the buckets must be relapped or they can jam and cause a shut down of the entire system, usually with the loss of product and the loss of production time. In addition, with most known systems, if a single bucket is not properly lapped or if it is intentionally or inadvertently tipped so that it is not properly lapped, jamming may occur with loss of considerable product and production time.
There is therefore a need for bucket elevator conveyor systems that can discharge product at stations intermediate of the drive and take-up mechanisms and discharge the product at intermediate stations from the lower path of the conveyor system, thus eliminating the necessity of relatively expensive and complex chutes and the accompanying framework that is necessary in systems where intermediate discharge occurs from the buckets traveling along the upper path of the conveyor.
There is also a need for improvements in relapping mechanisms and techniques that will assure proper relapping of the buckets to minimize jamming of the system.